Do i need to apply for probate?

P933alilli

My elderly Mum died in her carehome on sunday aged 91. She has savings in the Halifax, one fixed rate isa (1 yr) with £17500 in it, a current account with £930 in it and an instant saver with £950 in it . She also has about 696 Halifax shares with equiniti that arent worth a lot at the moment. I looked after Mum for three years before she went in the carehome and our home, was under Joint tenancy. Mum also has a small amount of jewellry which i dont think is worth much.

  Mum is definitely under the £325,000 threshold regarding inheritance tax.

    She made a will about 11 years ago and me and my sister are executors and get on ok. My sister realises the house will pass to me under the rules of Joint tenancy

    So i wondered do i still need to apply for probate anyway or can i  just contact the Halifax regarding the cash. Ive had control over the cash accounts since we made a lasting power of attorney for mum in 2016 but i realise that is now null and void and i rang the OPG this morning to let them know of Mum's passing.

MCT56

It would be best to have a look on the GOV UK website where you will find details when you need to apply for probate and also the Bereavement page on the Halifax website which has guidance. Hope this helps.

SiliconChip

Sorry for your loss.

You might be OK with just a death certificate for the Halifax accounts, but the only way to be certain is to ask them. The same is true of Equiniti, although in my experience there are more hoops to jump through with shares in order to get either the shares transferred into a new name or sold and the cash received, and both routes are likely to attract fees.

Glad

What to do when someone dies: step by step - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Bereavement | Life Events | Halifax

ArGee68

Sorry for your loss. 

My late father had a stocks and shares ISA account with Halifax total value of £33K and they paid the estate before we applied for probate.  They just required the death certificate and I had to sign a waiver of liability as executor.   That was in December 2022 when I think they only needed the grant of probate if total accounts held with Halifax were over £50K.  They were very helpful when I phoned them to notify them of his death.

Whether you need to apply for probate will depend on what else is in the estate - total value etc.  Annoyingly every institution have their own requirements as to whether they want a grant of probate or not.  

Dealing with Equiniti was a different matter.  If you need to apply for probate they won't pay the estate until you send them the grant of probate irrespective of the shares value and they also apply selling fees which can wipe out the value of a small share holding.   

poseidon1

P933alilli said:

My elderly Mum died in her carehome on sunday aged 91. She has savings in the Halifax, one fixed rate isa (1 yr) with £17500 in it, a current account with £930 in it and an instant saver with £950 in it . She also has about 696 Halifax shares with equiniti that arent worth a lot at the moment. I looked after Mum for three years before she went in the carehome and our home, was under Joint tenancy. Mum also has a small amount of jewellry which i dont think is worth much.

  Mum is definitely under the £325,000 threshold regarding inheritance tax.

    She made a will about 11 years ago and me and my sister are executors and get on ok. My sister realises the house will pass to me under the rules of Joint tenancy

    So i wondered do i still need to apply for probate anyway or can i  just contact the Halifax regarding the cash. Ive had control over the cash accounts since we made a lasting power of attorney for mum in 2016 but i realise that is now null and void and i rang the OPG this morning to let them know of Mum's passing.

You don't mention the value of the house you jointly owned or how you became a joint owner.  

If your mother was originally sole owner, and gifted half share to you, when did this happen and what was the house value at the time?  Clearly , if your joint ownership occurred within 7 years of her demise and the house value was high enough at that time IHT as well as probate maybe in point.

In other words does  not  appear to be enough information of prior years events and relevant values  to advise on necessity or otherwise for probate.

p00hsticks

I'm sorry for your loss. 

Unfortunately, I think you'll probably need to apply for probate to get access to the shares, although check with Equiniti.

If they aren't worth that much (and bearing in mind that unless you are on certain means tested benefits the  probate fee is £273, added to which there will be costs to liquidate the shares) and it turns out that is the only thing you need probate for , it could be worth asking what happens if you jsut leave them or if there is a way you can donate them to charity

ArGee68

p00hsticks said:

I'm sorry for your loss. 

Unfortunately, I think you'll probably need to apply for probate to get access to the shares, although check with Equiniti.

If they aren't worth that much (and bearing in mind that unless you are on certain means tested benefits the  probate fee is £273, added to which there will be costs to liquidate the shares) and it turns out that is the only thing you need probate for , it could be worth asking what happens if you jsut leave them or if there is a way you can donate them to charity

This is incorrect.  If you qualify as a small estate and satisfy other criteria specified on their bereavement pages EQ (as they are now known) do not require a grant of probate.   However, if you have to apply for probate for other reasons e.g. size of estate, they will not settle the shares until they receive a copy of the grant irrespective of the value of the shares.

P933alilli

Thanks for the replies! I'll start looking into it after the funeral.

Jowwie

Sorry for your loss.  

I did not find Equiniti easy to deal with. Not helped in our case by our being unable to locate a share certificate. You should notify them of the death to stop dividends being issued. Agree with ArGee68 you may qualify as a "small estate" to sell or transfer or donate the shares.

More info here https://www.shareview.co.uk/4/Info/Portfolio/default/en/home/shareholders/Documents/WhatToDoWhenAShareholderDies.pdf

Contact I have is bereavementsupport@equinity.com

P933alilli

Thanks Jowwie!